Costumes made/modeled by Yaya between 1999 - now.

Gamora - Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Comic Book

Why I chose to make this costume:

I have wanted to make a set of foam armor for a while, to see how if differs from Worbla and other materials I have used in the past. Gamora is of course a fantastic character, this suit is super striking in its design, and I'll only have to do green face paint each time I wear this costume, which is far quicker than body painting.

How I made this costume:

The entire suit of armor is made with 2mm and 5mm EVA foam, procured from Cosplay Shop. I agonized for 4 weeks over this build, using a new technique I’d never tried before, on a design that is very detailed and form fitting, and thus challenging to pattern. The bodice alone comprises of almost 40 individual foam pieces, each shaped and beveled with a dremel tool, and glued together like a puzzle. I used Barge contact cement as the bond. After weeks of cutting, sanding and gluing, the armor was ready for painting, but at the last minute, I decided to coat the armor in a flexible plastic, called Epsilon Pro. I looked at all the work I put into the armor and wanted it to have more durability and strength. Thankfully, The Engineer Guy, local to Atlanta, had Epsilon Pro in stock. This process added another week to the costume's build, because the Epsilon Pro had to dry for 3 hours between coating, and I wanted at least 3 coats on every piece. After the plastic cured, it had to be sanded smooth, first with an orbital sander, then by hand. I ended up enlisting the help of my employees at the warehouse with the sanding, because my hands were so cramped. Finally, once the armor was slick and smooth, I was able to prime and spray painted everything. I used Tamiya brand paint for the base, and airbrushed the grey detailing on.
The sewing portion of Gamora was very easy by comparison. Here is a video that shows you how I made all the sewn aspects, such as the custom two piece undersuit and the neckpiece.
Fabrics used are the scuba hex and the jumbo stretch, from my cosplay fabrics line, available at JOANN Fabric and Craft Stores. Pattern used is the McCalls M7554, from my cosplay patterns line.

Thoughts on this costume:

This was definitely a challenging costume for me, because I am so much more comfortable with sewing. My hands are not strong enough to handle making armor every month, and this project took a lot out of me physically. But it was also an amazing learning process, and I'm really happy with the final outfit. I will use thie technique again on futuristic armor, and next time, it will require much less time and effort, because I did all of my problem solving on Gamora.

About Yaya

Yaya Han® is one of only few cosplayers in the world to build a business in this hobby-ist community, but even after a decade of success, she strives to stay true to what got her into this field originally - fun and creativity. To this day, Yaya has made a myriad of costumes in the genres of anime, manga, video games, sci-fi, comic books and of course from her own original designs. Her intricate and lavish creations have won awards and acclaim worldwide, and she has been invited to appear as a Guest, Panelist, Judge, Performer and Host to hundreds conventions and other events all over the globe.